Sea-salt Journal
by MagicPencil17
Summary: Join Annie Stuart, a.k.a the ice-cream lady as she recounts a particular time serving a certain Nobody trio their favorite ice-cream. 358/2 days retelling.
1. Entry 1

**Hello, this is my first Kingdom hearts fan-fic, I do hope you enjoy my take on 358/2 days. This will be written in a journal-like layout.**

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_Entry 1_

Hello, I am known a the ice-cream lady, not that I don't like that name I mean I don't mind such a title but I do wish the customers used a more formal way of addressing me. I guess I should make more of an effort in getting them to call me something other than the ice-cream lady.

Oh, what am I doing? I should have written my name at the begging of this journal! Oh gosh, I'm terrible at this, well I guess now would be a good time. My name is Annie Stuart and I run Twilight Town's local ice-cream parlor, hence why everyone calls me the ice-cream lady but I'm sure my first statement should have clued you in on that.. Oh, I'm not doing so good at explaining myself on this journal am I? I'll try my best to better my writing, I really will.

Anyways, back to business. My family has been running this parlor for five generations and I have been independently running it for 37 years, a very long employment don't you think? I think the best part of this kind of work is watching the kinds of people that have walked into my parlor for their icy treats, they are all interesting in their own right. I have seen babies grow into well-rounded people and I have said goodbye to good friends. I don't really see myself doing anything else than run my family's parlor so that's a good thing right? Right.

Still, there is a reason why I've started writing on this journal. To tell you the truth I've seen this strange man in a black coat walk around Twilight Town or more like it I think it's a man; I couldn't really tell, they wore hood most of the time. Not only that, these scary monsters started appearing in and around town, it scares me to walk down the street but my luck has been fair and I haven't bumped into any of them. Phew! I really want to document these happenings for my own records, I've never seen anything like this happen before and I'm pretty sure I'll never see it again. Hmm, where was I again? Oh yes, the hooded man.

Turns out, it was this young, red-headed man under the hood and I guess he's a good person. He comes into my parlor almost everyday and gets the same thing, sea-salt ice cream. He's become a regular and I always store some for him just in case the other youngsters have cleaned me out of the treat for the day. Sea-salt ice-cream is a favorite among the young, maybe it's the taste, I'm not sure. I'll try to keep this journal updated on anything curious that happens around Twilight Town but then again, I am the ice-cream lady so it might not be much, right? Right.

Oh, by the way, it's almost the new year! I can't wait for what the future has in store.

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**Love it? Hate it? Got questions? Feel like flaming me for the fun of it? Please don't hesitate to ask!**

**Till next time!**


	2. Entry 2

**Thank you very much for the comments thus far. Enjoy!**

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_Entry 2_**  
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Today is the first day of the new year and you know what that means? Today I made my bi-annual trip to the next town to pick up my ice-cream supplies in bulk. I had everything ready for my trip: my wagon was cleaned up, my work clothes laid out and my train ticket in my bag. Now I know what was be troubling at this moment, why do I need a wagon? Well, it has become a tradition in our family to pick up our ice-cream supplies with this wagon that has been with us since the beginning of our business. Though it has many knicks and kinks it can surprisingly still carry all that I need to make the ice-cream. When I was young, they use to tell me that our family obtained that wagon from a wizard but I digress; it looks like any old wagon.

Well then, I made my way to the train station and boarded the train to the next town. Once their I went to pick up the sugar, toppings and popsicle sticks that I ordered. Oh, I got to tell you about the popsicle sticks I get, they are really special. When my great-grandfather ran the store he started this contest, well more of a game of chance where anyone who got the stick with the word "winner" on it they would win free ice-cream for a whole week. There are only three sticks that have the word "winner" on it and since sea-salt ice-cream was the fan favorite the contest was done through them. It is so funny to watch the winners come in to the store and find out they have won a week's worth of ice-cream. I remember this one time there was this little girl who won and she almost jumped through the roof when she found out she won free ice-cream. Oh I really can't wait to see who wins it this time; maybe that boy Hayner and his friends will win it this time, they've been trying every year with no luck; maybe this will be their year.

Though I love picking up my supplies with the wagon it is a pain to go around Twilight Town with it; there's too many hills in this town and I'm not as young as I once was. Why is the parlor on top of a hill I'll never know but the walk does keep me healthy so I guess that's a given. Hmm, I guess that's it I can't really...Oh wait! Now I remember, the blond boy.

When I finally made it to the parlor there was this blond boy standing in the front. He was just staring at the sign and looked frightened when I said hello to him. I think he's new to the town but before I could ask him if he was he ran off. Oh, I do hope I didn't make a bad impression on him but he did seem confused, like he didn't know how to respond to me. Hopefully he'll stop by my shop and I can better introduce myself or I can just keep it to myself and let it slide, maybe I really just scared him.

Also, the red-headed man passed by today and instead of buying one popsicle he bought two. I wonder if he got himself a girlfriend? Eh, I really should wonder about that stuff, it's his business after all but still, he's never bought more than one popsicle; maybe he was just hungry.

Well, that's all I have to report for today.

_Note to self: The shop down the street was broken into, must change locks for security reasons._

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**Love it? Hate it? Got questions? Feel like flaming me for the fun of it? Please don't hesitate to ask!**

**Till next time!**


	3. Entry 3

**Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews, i'm glad you guys like the idea. Oh and I'm pretty sure this is old news but who's excited for KH3? I know I am! Anyways, enjoy the next entry. **

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_Entry 3 (7 days after)_

Sorry that I haven't written for a week, the parlor has been extremely busy and all of us shopkeepers have been on high alert for some hooligans that have been breaking into our stores. I can't believe there are people in this town that would want to harm our business; our prices aren't that bad are they? From what we know so far, the vandals smash in the windows and make a complete wreck of the store in question; I'm not sure if they steal anything since everything seems to be everywhere but I wouldn't let that past me. If my store got broken into I don't know what I'd do, I really don't.

Great, now this entry sounds dreadfully sad, I should really change the subject.

Hmm, ehmm...Oh, I could tell you about the red-head but I feel I've been writing about him much. Oh well, my assumptions of him are right, he only bought two popscicles once so I guess he really was hungry, although, he does seem a bit more productive. Maybe a job? Who knows.

Sorry if that I haven't had much to write down but you know, business is business. Ice-cream doesn't make my itself you know, although, if it did I would really be out of a job.

_Note to self: The ice machine is making a weird noise again, contact Julianna to see if she's done using the tool box._

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**Love it? Hate it? Got questions? Feel like flaming me for the fun of it? Please don't hesitate to ask!**

**Till next time!**


	4. Entry 4, Insight 1

**Once again, thanks for liking this story, I didn't think it would get as many reviews so early on. Someone by the name of ConvertedToZemyx30  asked for some more Axel; here's to you kid!  
**

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_Entry 4_

Today has been rather long, I didn't sell much ice-cream but it happens I guess. Since I have very little customers today I decided to write on this journal and talk a little bit more about the week before since I didn't have any time to do so in my last entry. Since there have been break-ins, we in the business community have made up a kind of "neighborhood watch" so if the vandals come to do their crimes again we can catch them in the act. We have agreed that we should all arm ourselves when we go on these watches and me not having a single thing to arm myself with I've taken up my ladle as my weapon of choice. Hey, ladles hurt when used right, I would know, I've been whacked by one once and let me tell you, your butt hurts for days. Oh, but that was back when I was young and rebellious. Oh boy, I was such the rotten egg when I was younger and the other shop keepers can a sure you that I was but even in my wildest dreams I would never vandalize the local shops; that was just wrong. Oh look at me, I'm reminiscing and going off topic again like the old woman I am; sorry!

So anyways, we have been going on these watches and have come up with nothing, not a single lead on who could be going around causing trouble. Some of the groups that have gone have reported those scary creatures lurking around the crevices of the tunnels and the shopping area. Really, I don't understand what these creatures are doing here in our town, ha, I even have this weird thought that they were the ones causing all of this mess but that can't be true can it? Hmm, I mean, it can't be possible can it? I should really talk about this to the other shop keepers, this might be important to know.

And on that matter, I've heard that some people dressed just like the red-head have been seen but they don't do anything, they just are there, you know what I mean right? Hmm, maybe it's some fashion trend I've never heard of before; you know young people these days, they'd wear practically anything that looks cool. Then again, I was the same so it doesn't surprise me. You know I was kind of expecting for that blond boy to...oh! Someone's come into the parlor, I have to end it here.

_Note to self: Talk to shop owners about monsters._

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(_Insight 1__)_

"Hello? Can I- Oh it's you!" Annie said happily as she looked up from her journal, the customer walked towards the counter where she stood. "Have you come to get your usual?"

"Yeah" The red-headed man said.

"Okay" Annie replied as she reached into the freezer "One Sea-salt ice-cream coming right up!"

"Um, can you make that two popcicles this time?" The red-head asked, causing the woman to turn around.

"Two again? My, aren't we hungry."

"It's not that" The man responded "I just got stuck with a bit of baby-sitting and I thought I'd treat the kid with some ice-cream."

"Baby-sitting?" Annie said "You baby-sit?"

"Not really but someone had the teach the kid a few things and I was stuck with the job."

"Oh, that's nice, what were you teaching them?"

"Nothing much, just showed him around the town mostly."

"So, this is for a job well done." Annie said as she handed over to the red-head his ice-cream.

"You could say it's the icing on the cake" The red-head replied as he took the icy treats and gave the ice-cream lady the munny. Without another word he proceeded to leave the shop.

"Have a nice day!" Annie cried out after him, the red-head raised his free hand and gave the woman a lazy wave; another day in the work of the ice-cream lady.

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**I may or may not continue with these insights after the journal entry but I'd like some input on it. The reason for it was to give a bit more of a perspective on Annie's world outside of the journal entries.**

**Love it? Hate it? Got questions? Feel like flaming me for the fun of it? Please don't hesitate to ask!**

**Till next time!**


	5. Entry 5

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, well here's the next installment, enjoy! **

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_Entry 5  
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Oh geez, today has been another slow day;I don't know why it has been slow these past couple of days. what a great way to start of the year, right? Well, I'm not the only one suffering, with the spike in vandalism, all of us shop keepers have seen a drop in customers, darn vandals, if this keeps up we'll be out of our jobs. So anyways, remember the red-head I talked about before? Well, turns out he's a babysitter of some sorts, can you believe that? I mean, he doesn't look like the kind to have a job like that, then again, he did say it was kind of like babysitting, eh, I'll just say he's a babysitter, it's much easier on me or I'll get confused.

So today, since I've had little customers, I've taken the liberty to repaint the sign outside of the has been losing its luster and I've been putting off repainting it for a while so now seemed like a good time as any other. I took out my paint supplies and I headed out the door, the weather was nice so the day was better than I expected. I might have spent half the day painting it but it was finally done; the fresh new coat of paint gave my shop a nice feel to it. I was really pleased with myself. Once I was back inside, I noticed that the parlor could use some touching up; no use having the outside pretty and the inside shabby. With things being quiet for the moment I'll take the opportunity to give my shop a bit of a facelift; ha, for all the years my family has run the parlor I don't think we've changed it much except for the freezers and machines we use to make our ice-cream. I guess I'll be the first in a long while to give it more flair. I'll start on it tomorrow...I just have to remind myself, hehe.

Well, that was my day, not so much going on but it was fun. Okay, till then!

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**Love it? Hate it? Got questions? Feel like flaming me for the fun of it? Please don't hesitate to ask!**

**Till next time!**


	6. Entry 6, Insight 2

**Okay, so...a few things, so, someone asked me if this story should be rated T for the use of "hell" in my A/N; personally I don't see the harm in that word but I don't want to offend anyone who does think this way so I changed the phrase to "for the fun of it" to all chapters, I apologize if it created any unease.**

**Anyways, enjoy the next installment and...there may be some Roxas in it. **

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_Entry 6  
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_( one week and four days from last entry) _

Ouf, it's been such a long time since I've written on this journal but I do have my reasons; I did remind myself to start repairs around the parlor and things are coming just fine. Not a too-bad job for an older woman if I do say so myself. Ha, I have so much pride in my work, I should really bring it down a peg or it might give me some kind of complex. Oh, we wouldn't want that would we? So anyways, since my last journal entry I've gotten half of the parlor fixed and I fixed up one of my ice machines! Getting things nice for the future of my business not that it wasn't good to begin with.

That red-head still comes and buys ice-cream for himself and his charge, I think now they are friends because he doesn't seem to mind having him around so much like the first time he bought an extra ice-cream; I find it a bit sweet. I haven't really seen someone as old as he is having to watch over someone, unless they are their sibling, so it must be something. I mean, I just see his actions in the ice-cream shop so it's not like I've actually seen him on the job; actually, I've never even seen this kid he's watching over. I wonder what they're like? Huh, I really should get out of the shop more and get a better look of what Twilight Town looks like now. I know it sounds kind of pathetic but since I took over the shop so many years ago I haven't really seen how Twilight Town has changed and I know it has.

I guess that's what prompted me to make my shop more new. I look out my shop window and I see the town change, it grows and transforms just as those who inhabit it grow and change. I seen the shops around mine get more "with it" to be in the favor of the changing crowd and I guess since I've kept myself so wrapped in my own work I haven't really thought of changing my space until recently. I guess, deep in the back of my mind, I wanted to keep up with the times. Looking around the parlor, I can say I am doing a good job being "with it."

Ahg, my hand is cramping up from my writing, I guess this is what I get from renovating for a week and going straight to writing. Maybe if I but some gauze it'll...huh, I'll have to end this entry here, there's some weird cloaked person standing outside the shop...they might be vandals! Better get my ladle.

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_(Insight 2)_

Annie slowly reached down to the cubby under her cash register and armed herself with her ladle, was she sure she could fend off vandals with just a ladle? No, but it didn't mean she wasn't going to but in a couple of bruises to these bad people. Annie quickly made her way to the front and opened the door causing the cloaked person to jump back.

"Okay you vandal" Annie warned, she pointed her ladle towards them "I got a ladle and I'm not afraid to use it!"

The cloaked person put his hands up and looked around, like if he was looking for something or something to say.

"I...ummmm...sorry" The cloaked person managed to say "I'm not...a, umm...vandal..."

Annie adjusted he glasses to get a better view of the person, "What do you mean you're not a vandal?

"I...just...Ahhh!" The cloaked person took a misstep from the curb and fell backwards, revealing his face.

"Oh, it's you!" Annie exclaimed "You're that blonde boy from before."

"Huh?"

"Yeah," Annie continued, she lowered her ladle "You were standing outside my shop a while back and you looked confused or something...I really don't know. Don't you remember?"

The blond boy gave her a puzzled look, he didn't remember ever going to the ice-cream shop; this was his first time, he was sure of it.

"I guess that means you don't remember do you?" Annie said in disappointment, she looked down to her ladle "Oh, I feel so bad threatening you with this. I must've looked like a crazy old lady to you." She then looked at the boy "If you're here for ice-cream i'm more than happy to give you some, if you're not so mad at me that is?"

The boy picked himself up from the floor and gave her a shy smile, this lady was nice; she's crazy for running around with a ladle as if it were a weapon but she seemed nice so far. Annie opened the door to her parlor and let him walk in first. The boy's eyes looked around in amazement, the parlor looked nice and new on one side but old on the other side. In front of him were all the ice-cream neatly arranged in the freezer.

"Sorry if the parlor looks a bit of a mess." Annie said as she made her way to the counter "I'm remodeling my parlor so it's more "with it." By the way, I'm Annie Stuart but you can call me ice-cream lady; everyone else calls me that even your red-headed friend."

The blonde looked at her in shock when she said that, Annie gave a small chuckle.

"What, isn't he your friend? You wear the same coat as him."

The blond gave her a small nod.

"Well then, I knew he was your friend." Annie began "Anyways, you must want your ice-cream; which kind would you like?" The blond peered over to look at the many flavors of ice-cream she had to offer. All of them seemed interesting but none of them were the one he was looking for. Did she not have any?

"Ummm-"

"Can't find the one you're looking for?" Annie said to him, the boy looked up to her in disappointment.

"That's not a problem!" Annie said with a smile "I know exactly what you're looking for." She then made her way to the back, the boy looked with curiosity at where she disappeared to; this lady was sure helpful.

"Tada!" Annie announced as she reappeared with two sea-salt popsicles in her hands "Was this this what you were looking for?" The blond nodded to her in response.

"I keep these in the back just for your red-headed friend," Annie explained "I keep certain ice-cream stashed for my most loyal customers, here you go." Annie handed one popsicle to the boy and was about to hand him the other went he stopped her.

"I don't need that one." He said sadly "My friend isn't here today."

"He isn't? Well, that explains why you're here instead of him doesn't it?" Annie replied.

"Actually, he won't be here for a while." The boy said.

"Out on business huh?"

"Yeah...business..."

Annie could tell that the red-head's absence didn't sit too well with the younger boy in front of her "Well you shouldn't worry yourself too much on that thought."

"Huh?"

"Yeah" Annie continued "If you focus too much on him being gone it'll feel like forever and you wouldn't have much fun wallowing on that thought but if you continue on doing the things you would always do, like getting ice-cream, it won't be so hard. It'll feel like he's there with you, even though he's somewhere else. Does that make any sense?"

"Sorta." The boy responded, he then reached into his pocket and pulled out the munny needed to pay for the ice-cream.

"Oh I won't need that." Annie said.

"But, don't I need to pay for ice-cream?" The boy asked, Annie chuckled.

"Not today, since it's your first time in my shop this popsicle is on the house. By the way, welcome to Twilight Town, I hope you enjoy your new home."

The blond boy smiled a bit more happier at the older woman behind the counter, she was one of the first people with a heart he had interacted with. Maybe when all of this was over he could express the same way she did, people with hearts were interesting, unique and at some points odd. Still he couldn't interact with them much, he had to remember who he was and the kind of work he was involved in.

"Yeah" Was his response, he nodded to her again and then made his way to the exit. Just as he neared the door he stopped.

"Thank you Ice-cream lady." He said over his shoulder and opened the door to make his way to his favorite spot.

"Bye!" Annie cried out after him. She was quite surprised that the blonde boy she was a while back was the same boy the other one talked about. She wondered why he didn't remember their earlier encounter, eh, she just blamed teenage attention span, maybe it wasn't of any importance to him, whatever right? She was just glad she met someone new.

"Hopefully he'll stop by more often." Annie said "Well, time to close up for the day." She placed the extra popsicle back in the freezer and took up her broom, yes, hopefully she'll see him around more.

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**This one was longer than the others.**

**Love it? Hate it? Got questions? Feel like flaming me for the fun of it? Please don't hesitate to ask!**

**Till next time!**


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